FEEBLE JOHN 87

your doing exactly as I did at this critical
moment. Had you taken offence (as some
Princes would very likely have done under
the circumstances), or had you been alarmed,
or asked foolish questions, I cannot answer
for what the consequences might have been,
and whether I might not have been obliged
by the laws of magic to change you into a
camelopard, an alligator, or a wombat —
at any rate, you would probably have had to
become a caravan animal for a time at
least. Your own natural good sense, how-
ever, and the powers of imitation which you
so happily possess, have saved you from any
such misfortune for the present at least.
You have acted in the manner with which
wizards and magicians always receive the
well-known sign which I made, and this
shows me that I may safely work with and
for you. You are sure that you really wish
to get rid of that hump of yours ?’

“Of course I do,’ replied the Prince. ‘I
don’t think anybody wants a hump, unless
it is a buffalo bull, and I’m not sure whether
he would not be as well without it !’

‘We have nothing to do with buffalo
bulls,’ grimly remarked the magician ; ‘ but if